This invention relates to improvements in a mixing and stirring device of the static type. Such devices are intended for use primarily in plants for the manufacture of chemicals, medicines, foods, paints, paper, and the like.
Static-type mixing and stirring devices, capable of mixing and stirring fluids without using mechanical power, demonstrate such excellent, practical effects as (1) applicability of any possible combinations of fluids, gases, and solids, (2) limited power requirements to compensate pressure loss in the mixing and stirring device, thus achieving substantial energy savings, (3) a simplified noise reducing, trouble-free structure due to no involvement of movable parts, and (4) the possibility of reducing the size of the mixing and stirring device.
FIG. 27 illustrates one example of a prior art mixing and stirring device of the Kenix type which has been put in practice. This static-type, or static, mixing and stirring device is constituted by a 180xc2x0 right-twisting spiral-shaped mixing element B, the length of which is approximately 1.5 times that of the inner diameter of the case body A, and a 180xc2x0 left-twisting spiral-shaped element C, designed so that both elements cross each other at a right angle and are fitted into a cylindrical case body A in sequence. Fluids D fed into the case body A in the direction of an arrow are first divided into two by the first left-twisting spiral-shaped mixing elements C1, and further divided into two by the first right-twisting spiral-shaped mixing element B1, and the fluids are lastly divided into S=2n (where n is the number of mixing elements), and pushed out of the case body A.
Further, each element B.C is designed so that the right-twisting and the left-twisting are arranged alternately. Therefore, whenever the afore-mentioned divided fluids pass through each element B.C, the flow is inverted at the interface of each element B.C as shown in FIG. 23, and advance continuously while converting the flow direction from the center part to the wall part (FIG. 29 in case of the right-twisting spiral-shaped mixing element B) and wall part to the center part (FIG. 30 in case of the left-twisting spiral-shaped mixing element C) along the twisted surface of each element B.C. With each element B.C, the flow of fluids D is continuously served by the afore-mentioned actions of division, inversion, and conversion to allow fluids D to be mixed and stirred effectively, thus resulting in lower pressure loss.
As shown in the afore-mentioned FIG. 27, the conventional mixing and stirring device of the static type has excellent and practical effects, as discussed above. However, there remain many problems to be solved with the conventional mixing and stirring devices, such as the device illustrated in FIG. 27. These problems include: (1) how to make it possible to substantially reduce production costs by further simplifying the structure, and (2) how to make it possible to further enhance mixing and stirring capabilities with a structurally simplified and smaller sized device.
The mixing and stirring device in FIG. 27 employs very complicatedly formed 180xc2x0 right-twisting spiral-shaped mixing and stirring element B and 180xc2x0 left-twisting spiral-shaped mixing and stirring element C. Therefore, the manufacture of each element B.C is not an easy task, which makes it difficult to realize the substantial cost reduction in manufacturing the mixing and stirring device.
In addition, there remain some other problems. In order to reduce pressure loss with the mixing and stirring device for smoother mixing, it becomes necessary that the length of each element B.C needs to be approximately 1.5 times longer than the inner diameter of the case body A. Also, in order to improve mixing and stirring performance, it becomes necessary that a large number of elements B.C be employed. Thus it is inevitable that the static-type mixing and stirring device is large in size.
Further, with each element B.C employed in the device in FIG. 27, the division number of fluids is limited to 2, and the division number S of fluids becomes S=2n (where n is the number of mixing elements). For example, even when 10 pieces of the element B.C are employed, the division number remains only approximately 1xc2x7103. As seen in the result, another disadvantage of the device is that, in order to enhance mixing and stirring abilities by increasing the division number S, it becomes inevitable that more numbers of elements B.C are required, thus being unable to avoid the need to make the size of the device larger. Furthermore, because of these disadvantages, the velocity gap between fluids or shearing force will be lowered, and sufficient mixing performance cannot be expected.
The afore-mentioned disadvantages are in regards to the mixing and stirring device of the static type illustrated in FIG. 27. However, there is no need to say that these disadvantages can also be applied to other conventional mixing and stirring devices of the static type. Sufficient mixing effects cannot be expected with static-type mixing and stirring devices of a simple structure as disclosed by the prior art, and to gain sufficient mixing effects, it becomes structurally complex and costly, and the entire device becomes large in size, and the disadvantages remain unsolved.
An object of the present invention is to provide solutions to problems with the conventional static-type mixing and stirring devices. Problems addressed by this invention are those mentioned above, such as (1) the structural complexity of elements which form a mixing an stirring device, thus making its manufacture troublesome and the reduction of manufacturing costs difficult, (2) a need to increase the number of elements in use to enhance the mixing and stirring performance, resulting in a large-sized device and increase in pressure loss, and (3) a need to increase the division number for the reason that the division number of fluids per element is small, thus requiring more elements to be used to enhance the mixing and stirring performance, also making the device larger in size and production costs higher.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a mixing and stirring device that permits a simple structure and that reduces production costs considerably, and also enables a large division number S of fluids with a small number of elements in use by increasing the fluid division number S per element, and further enables the entire device to be smaller in size and brings about synergistic effects of shearing force (a velocity gap between fluids) and cavitation (an abrupt pressure gap between fluids), which are necessary to enhance mixing and stirring performance, thus allowing the size of the whole device to be small and providing considerable improvements in its mixing and stirring performance.
The present invention according to a first embodiment comprises fundamentally: a cylindrical case body, multiple kinds of disc-shaped elements which are combined and fitted in sequence into the case body and are provided with multiple holes at prescribed intervals, and joint metals removably fitted at the ends of the outlet and inlet of the case body.
The present invention according to a second embodiment comprises fundamentally the first flange forming a storage cavity at the inner part of the central hole part, the second flange fitted to the afore-mentioned first flange facing each other and forming a storage cavity at the inner part of the central hole part, multiple kinds of disc-shaped elements which are combined and fitted in sequence into the case body and are provided with multiple holes at prescribed intervals, and the fixture to fit and fix both of the afore-mentioned flanges.
The present invention according to a third embodiment comprises fundamentally a valve body equipped with a flow passage arranged so as to move freely inside the valve body, a storage cavity formed inside the flow passage of the afore-mentioned valve, and multiple kinds of disc-shaped elements which are combined and fitted in sequence into the case body and are provided with multiple holes at prescribed intervals, and all of which are stored inside the valve.
In the invention according to the first embodiment modified to form a fourth embodiment, the present invention employs the flanges removably fixed at both ends of the case body in place of the joint metals, and removably integrates both flanges and the case body by means of joint bolts and nuts in the invention.
In the second embodiment of the invention as modified to form a fifth embodiment, the present invention employs the bolts and nuts to clamp the flanges directly or the half-split shaped clamping metals and the bolts and nuts to clamp and fix both clamping metals in place of the fixture.
In the third embodiment of the invention as modified to form a sixth embodiment, the present invention employs a ball-shaped valve body of the ball valve, a flat-plate-shaped valve body of the butterfly valve, or a flat-plate-shaped valve body of the gate valve in place of a valve body.
The first, second, and third embodiments of the invention are modified to form a seventh embodiment, wherein the seventh embodiment employs two types of elements, the element 1 and the element 2, and with the former the squarely positioned plural number of polygonal pyramid frustum shaped hole parts of conical frustum shaped hole parts are arranged so that the center Q of the said polygonal pyramid frustum shaped hole part or conical frustum shaped hole part is positioned differently from the center O of the disc body, and with the latter the squarely positioned plural number of polygonal pyramid frustum shaped hole parts of conical frustum shaped hole parts are arranged so that the center Q of the said polygonal pyramid frustum shaped or conical frustum shaped hole and the center of the disc body are overlapped and positioned, thus both the first element and the second element are placed alternately one on another with the large opening side of the polygonal pyramid frustum shaped hole part or the conical frustum shaped hole part placed at the upstream side of fluids .
In the seventh embodiment of the invention as modified to form an eighth embodiment, the present invention of the eighth embodiment is designed to have a plurality of the polygonal pyramid frustum shaped hole parts or conical frustum shaped hole parts in both the first and second elements, wherein the sizes of the holes of both the first and second elements are the same and a means to regulate the fitting positions of the first and second elements is provided.
The ninth embodiment of the present invention is a modification of both the seventh and eighth embodiments, wherein the ninth embodiment is designed so that the hold part is regular quadrangular pyramid frustum shaped.
The tenth embodiment is a modification of the first, second and third embodiments, wherein, the present invention employs two types of elements, the first element and the second element, and with the former the squarely positioned plural number of hole parts equipped with the reduced diameter part halfway are arranged so that the center Q of the hole part is positioned differently from the center O of the disc body, and with the latter the squarely positioned plural number of hole parts equipped with the reduced diameter part halfway are arranged so that the center Q of the said hole part and the center O of the disc body are overlapped.
The eleventh embodiment, being a modification of the tenth embodiment, is designed such that the first element is provided with a plurality of the hole parts equipped with the reduced diameter part halfway of the first element, the second element is provided with a plurality of the hole parts equipped with the reduced diameter part halfway of the second element, the sizes of holes of both the first and second elements are the same, and a means to regulate the fitting positions of the first and second elements is provided.
The twelfth embodiment, being a modification of the tenth and the eleventh embodiment, is designed so that the holes equipped with the reduced diameter part halfway of the element are sandglass shaped.